


Ice Cream Cake

by Swashbuckler



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Baking, Cake, Gen, Late at Night, Metahumans, Snark, The Rogues As Family (The Flash), canon-typical threats of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:47:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25649764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swashbuckler/pseuds/Swashbuckler
Summary: Axel bakes at 3am. Mark is concerned.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 38





	Ice Cream Cake

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PepperCat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PepperCat/gifts).



> I had the image of TV!Axel baking in the dark for no good reason, and then it grew into an actual fic thanks to PepperCat.
> 
> Enjoy!

Mark had been on his way downstairs when he heard the noise. He paused, listening. He took another careful step down the stairs. Someone was down here. It could just be one of the others, but he was sure everyone had gone to bed hours ago. 

There it was again, another noise. There was someone in the kitchen. No one would be dumb enough to break in and stick around, and yet he could feel the crackle of electricity in the air snapping around his fingertips, ready. 

He crept forwards. In the dark kitchen, he could just make out the shape of someone stood at the kitchen counter with fluffed up hair.

"Axel?"

The shadow's head turned, eyes shining unnaturally bright in the low light from the living room, hues of blue and green shining off his pupils. 

"Oh hey," Axel said, and Mark could see a glimpse of teeth when Axel's lips quirked. Mark stepped forward. 

"What're you doing?" 

The shadow of Axel's shoulders bounced. "Not much." 

Yeah. Like he believed that. Mark bumped his fist against the kitchen light switch and immediately Axel whined, scrunching up his eyes.

"Duuude. Come oooon." 

"Nice PJs," Mark said as Axel put down a bowl to rub his eyes. "Didn't know you owned anything with sleeves." 

Axel huffed out a reluctant laugh, squinting at Mark. "I own a few intact tees." 

"Cannot guess where the inspiration for the pants came from," Mark drawled, hooking open the fridge door.

Axel plucked at his fleece pyjama bottoms. "What? I like plaid." 

"Couldn't guess." He glanced over his shoulder and watched Axel pick up his bowl again. Mark frowned. "Have you been baking?" 

"Yup," Axel chirped. "Made ice cream cake." 

Mark looked at it. It was half-iced in front of Axel on the countertop. "What's wrong with it?" 

"Nothing," Axel grumbled. "I'm just not done yet."

"I meant like, what's wrong with it in a Trickster sense."

Axel gave him a cheeky side-smile over his shoulder. "Oh. Right." He shrugged. "Still nothing." He scooped out another dollop of icing out of the bowl under his arm and continued smoothing it over the surface of the cake. "I just fancied some." 

"At 3am." 

"Yeah," Axel said with a laugh. "You never had a craving before?" 

"Not like that," Mark said seriously, grabbing a beer out of the fridge door and shutting it. He pulled the bottle opener off the fridge door and flicked the cap into the sink. 

Axel held out the bowl of baby blue icing to Mark. "I'm done with this. Want some?" 

"I'm alright." Mark took a mouthful of beer to prove his point. 

"Suit yourself," Axel chimed, setting the bowl aside and stealing a swipe of frosting for himself while he tipped sprinkles and sugar pearls and whatever else all over the cake. 

Mark backed out of the kitchen, raising his bottle to his friend as he went. "Go nuts, Axel. Seriously cannot believe you're baking at 3am though."

"Oh, I don't know--" a cheerful voice growled behind him "--seems like the perfect time to me."

* * *

Everyone was shouting. 

"--the _actual_ hell--" 

"--it kill you not to shock the safe-house--"

"Hey, does anyone--"

"--not my fault he--" 

"--so _jumpy_ \--" 

"--does anyone want cake--" 

"--roast the clown--" 

" _Mick--!_ "

"I'm so glad--" Lisa's voice cut through the clamour of the rest of the Rogues "--you all know me well enough to think waking me up at 3am is a really good idea." She had appeared in the living room, tying the belt of her dressing gown tight around her waist. She folded her arms. 

Len pointed at James. "Talk." 

James sighed. "This is all just one big misunderstanding," he crowed as Mark glared at him. "Mark just didn't realise I was down here too and I gave him a bit of a shock, so he tried to return the favour." James gestured leisurely to the smouldering patch of living room carpet where Mark's lightning had landed.

"No way you should've been able to dodge that," Mark growled. The senior Trickster shrugged, oh-so-smug.

"Better luck next time."

"If we could keep all future fights out of the house," Len drawled, rolling his fingertips against his temple. "And Jesse, stop sneaking up on everyone. One day Mardon won't miss."

"We could get him a cap and bells," Hartley suggested. "Then you'd hear him moving around the house. I'm sure he wouldn't mind." James made a face and a show of cheerfully considering it. 

"Great idea," Lisa said, danerously sweet. "Are we done?" 

"We're done," Len said firmly. 

"Wait, so--" The Rogues, all ready to retreat back to bed, rounded on Axel. He held up a handful of spoons. "Does that mean no one wants cake?" 

The Rogues stared at him.

* * *

The click and chink of metal against porcelain was the only noise to break the silence in the living room. Len had made himself comfortable in one armchair, Mick stood leaning against its side. James was sat happily in the armchair on the other side of the room. Hartley was sat on the floor with his back against the sofa, frowning softly as he chewed. Lisa, Axel and Mark had claimed every available space on the sofa, and Shawna had perched herself on the arm beside Mark. 

"This is actually pretty good," Mark said through a mouthful of cake. Axel preened.

"Told you." 

"Perhaps ease up on the popping candy next time though," Shawna suggested. 

"Agreed," Hartley said. He held out his piece of cake to the room. "Anyone want the rest of mine?" Mick simultaneously raised his hand and took Piper's plate from him.

"You don't like it?" Axel asked.

"There is only so much sugar I can eat at 4am," Hartley said, without the usual sarcastic edge to his voice: he wasn't condescending, just conceding defeat. Axel grinned. He liked it. 

His expected biggest critics seemed to as well. He hadn't anticipated Len or Lisa to actually take a slice, but the discovery that the cake contained a layer of ice cream seemed to have placated both Snarts into an appeased silence. Len was still sat like an offended cat in his chair, but was taking his sweet time with each bite like he was actually savouring it, and Lisa had even kicked her legs up and across Axel's lap after a few bites.

Yeah, he thought as he scraped frosting off his plate, he'd done well.

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone interested, a cap and bells is the proper name for a jester's hat with the bells on.


End file.
